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Petition: Close Parks To Oil & Gas Drilling If Shutdown Blocks Public

"A progressive activist group's online petition seeks to stop oil and gas drilling in national parks while the areas are closed to the public during the government shutdown."

"The petition, from CREDO’s Mobilize project, had more than 75,000 signatures as of Wednesday. The petition decries preferential treatment that allows oil and gas extraction companies to continue working in national parks while the general public is barred during Washington's budget impasse.

"Our federal lands are being mined, drilled, logged and just about everything else you can name, but because of the Republicans’ reckless and irresponsible shutdown of the federal government, we can't be there to hike or camp, and our park rangers can't be there to respond to emergencies," the petition reads. "We need to get our priorities straight."